Sunday, October 15, 2017

Rita's Reach: Creation and Creativity - not a reach!

The most
reproduced image of Michelangelo’s, the Creation of Adam, which is on the
Sistine Chapel ceiling, was my inspiration for this quilt.

After I had
the hands completed and placed on the background of clouds I thought the
message was complete. The next day it just seemed unfinished. Yes, lesson
learned, always sleep on it and it may look different the next morning.

There’s a
bumper sticker that reads, “How cool, the same God that created the mountains
decided the world also needed humans.” My design was now almost complete.

To merge the
clouds and hands and mountains together took a bit of creative thinking. A photo was captured of the hands from the
chapel ceiling. Next, a line drawing was made on a clear plastic sheet for the
light to dark detail required in the hands. The hands are then made with a
technique where 5 values of very light to very dark fabric are selected and
used to illustrate the dimension in the hands. The mountains are then made by
the same technique using only three values.
Colored pencil has added a bit of shading.

When I had
all three elements ready to assemble another dilemma developed. Do the hands go
above the mountains or behind, or how far apart? Again, a good night’s sleep
and the next morning I tossed the drawing of hands over the mountains and it
worked and that is what you see. It is finished. Perhaps it was divine
intervention.

10 comments:

Of course, this is an excellent representation of reach. As always your techniques are impeccable. Hands are very difficult to execute but you have done a wonderful job with the 5 values. Purple mountains' majesty and the majesty of creation. Sleeping does indeed help with the creative process.

Oh, Rita, how lovely! For each new MM quilt from you I think, "Rita has out-done herself!" And once again, truly, you have! Not only is this quilt visually beautiful, but what you depict is so meaningful. And your construction techniques and the amount of work you put into it: all of these are so apparent! You continue to amaze and awe me!

Some Super Websites!

The Material Mavens

We are a group of art quilters who come from various parts of the United States, from the East coast and then south to Arkansas and Texas. We were inspired by the original Twelve by Twelve international art quilting group.

Beginning in September, 2011, we started posting our 12"x 12" art quilts, which were based on themes chosen in turn by our members. For Round One, we posted quilts every two months, always on the 15th of the designated months.

Round Two of The Material Mavens began in October, 2014. Some changes were made: quilts were posted every three months, and the quilts could be be either 12"x 12" or rectangular ones measuring 11" x 14", either horizontal or vertical in orientation.

Round Three of The Material Mavens will begin in July, 2018. Again, changes have been made. Now those members who wish to stay affiliated with the group are free to post quilts every time or every now and then. Two, our blog administrator collected suggested themes from the members who wanted to remain affiliated. These themes were then pulled at random from a "hat," and they were then assigned in order for the posting dates. Since we had 13 members who wanted to remain, we will be posting quilts every 3 months until 2021! This date is significant and appropriate, because 2021 will be the 10th year that our group has been in existence.